These delightful treats take me back to my childhood. There is something about the texture and flavor that reminds me of fridge cake. Did you ever make these as a kid? It was literally the only thing I could ‘bake’ successfully during primary school. And it didn’t involve an oven so my Mum was chilled with me exercising my independence.
I always craved sweet things (who didn’t at that age), but on a day when my sugar cravings were particularly strong, I would flip through the old recipe file. This file holds so much history and is filled with baking ingredient stained pages, some of which were typewritten. I used to love flipping through it and picking something I felt like making. Back to the fridge cake…this recipe traditionally involves tea biscuits, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and butter. You know, all the good stuff.
So now 15 years, a few food allergies and much better baking skills later, I created a paleo version. BY ACCIDENT! Clearly I was channeling my 12 year old self. What I actually set out to make was paleo fudge. But then I got far too excited with the ingredients and it came out tasting splendid! But not fudge.
I chopped some dates and put them in a saucepan of simmering water. The dates soak up all the water and break down (with the help of a spoon) to form a paste.
The cacao nibs and shredded coconut got blitzed in the food processor until fine. I then added some tahini sesame butter (you can use any nut butter here). Then in went a fair amount of coconut oil to make a very silky paste. You could use dark chocolate or cacao powder instead of cacao nibs for this I’m sure! Use your baker’s intuition 😉
Date paste gets chucked into the processor as well to join the party. Then I let them dance around together until well combined and ready to put in a dish. Let them chill out in the fridge after the crazy processor party.
- 100 g medjool dates pitted and chopped
- 150 ml water
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 30 g cacao nibs
- 4 Tbs coconut
- 1 Tbs nut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- Bring water to a simmer in a sauce pan
- Add chopped dates and let simmer and soak while breaking up the dates with a wooden spoon
- When the dates are softened and start forming a paste, turn off heat
- Continue breaking up the date mixture until a smooth paste is formed
- Put cacao nibs and coconut in a food processor and whiz until a fine soft texture
- Add the butter and whiz until well combined
- Add the date paste, coconut oil and vanilla essence and continue whizzing until smooth
- Place mixture into a medium sized dish and let sit in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours or until hard
- Cut into small squares
- Replace the cacao nibs with dark chocolate or cacao powder as you desire.
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